The matrix metalloproteinases (MMP's) are a class of extracellular enzymes including collagenase, stromelysin and gelatinase which are believed to be involved in the tissue destruction which accompanies a large number of disease states varying from arthritis to cancer.
Typical connective tissue cells are embedded within an extracellular matrix of high molecular weight proteins and glycoproteins. In healthy tissue, there is a continual and delicately-balanced series of processes which include cell division, matrix synthesis and matrix degradation. In certain pathological conditions, an imbalance of these three processes can lead to improper tissue restructuring. In arthritis, for example, joint mobility can be lost when there is improper remodeling of load-bearing joint cartilage. With cancer, lack of coordination of cell division and the two processes of matrix synthesis and degradation may lead to conversion of transformed cells to invasive phenotypes in which increased matrix turnover permits tumor cells to penetrate basement membranes surrounding capillaries which, in turn, may lead to subsequent metastasis.
There has been heightened interest in discovering therapeutic agents which bind to and inhibit MMP's. The discovery of new therapeutic agents possessing this activity will lead to new drugs having a novel mechanism of action for combating disease states involving tissue degenerative processes including, for example, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteopenias such as osteoporosis, periodontitis, gingivitis, corneal, epidermal or gastric ulceration, and tumor growth and metastasis or invasion.